Portland police admit drug addiction won’t be solved by making more arrests

Three months after Oregon re-criminalized drugs, the state’s most populous county has made about the same number of drug possession arrests as much smaller neighboring counties.

Multnomah County, with a population of 789,698 residents, has made 273 arrests since the state’s new drug laws took effect Sept. 1, according to a real-time data dashboard released by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. Washington County, with a population of 598,865, made the arrests. Clackamas County, with a population of 423,173, made 224 arrests.

The PPB was responsible for the vast majority of those arrests, 212. During a bi-monthly media call about the implementation of re-criminalization in Multnomah County, the county deferred to law enforcement when asked about declining arrest rates based on population.

PPB issued a written statement noting that addiction is a multifaceted problem.

“PPB routinely conducts targeted enforcement missions that can result in either arrests or dismissals. However, these are complex issues that cannot be solved through enforcement alone. “There are deep-rooted systemic problems that lead to addiction and the associated quality of life problems that widespread addiction brings,” the statement said. “Arresting drug dealers and diverting users are the tools of law enforcement, and as we said, we use those tools! PPB will continue to work with our community to address this issue and we hope other parts will benefit as well. “The criminal justice system and social services will look to the tools at their disposal to break these cycles.”

Of all 36 Oregon counties, Jackson County had the highest total number of arrests. The county has made a total of 440 arrests for drug possession out of a population of 220,768 people. Most of these arrests were made by the Medford Police Department (MPD).

MPD was not immediately able to provide context but promised a response within the next 48 hours. This article will be updated once this response is received.

In passing Oregon’s drug re-criminalization law, lawmakers also allocated about $20 million to distribute to counties and establish programs that would allow people charged with drug possession to: to escape the criminal justice system and seek treatment. Counties were allowed to join or leave the programs, decide how they would like to structure their programs, and set their start date. A total of eight Oregon counties have decided against it (Sherman, Jefferson, Wheeler, Douglas, Coos, Curry and Lake Counties).

Persons arrested for simple possession without concurrently committing other crimes can be sentenced to a maximum of 30 days in prison. Many counties already have drug courts and diversion programs in place where judges can reduce sentences and/or charges on the condition that the defendant agrees to treatment. Diversion programs should be offered prior to arraignment to prevent the person from entering the justice system. Most counties have chosen to stay charges, meaning the district attorney would file charges if the conditions for dismissal were not met.

Charges are not stayed in Multnomah County. The only consequences for those who fail dismissal are a 30-day probationary period after failing dismissal. After that, they are no longer eligible for dismissal again and can be charged if they are caught with drugs.

Individuals with pending charges and concurrent felonies in the county are not eligible for dismissal.

Of the 273 people arrested in Multnomah County, 127 were deported. The district will not release success data from its program until February.

From September 1 to October 14, the county offered diversion through mobile teams that met police at the jail or the scene of an arrest. On Oct. 14, the county opened its Coordinated Care Pathway Center, where most cancellations are currently occurring.

Since opening, the center has seen 74 deportation clients, 20 of whom chose not to initiate deportation after being brought there by police. This means they refused to be evaluated for a substance use disorder and therefore failed diversion after leaving the center. These individuals will not be eligible for dismissal for an additional 30 days. The county will release data in February on how many were arrested within that 30-day probation period.

The CJC reports that as of November 4, 282 people have requested diversion statewide. Statewide success rates are still being underreported to the CJC by counties, according to a data presentation OHSU gave to members of the CJC’s Deflection Grant Review Committee in a public meeting on Nov. 15.

One data point the CJC tracks is the housing status of people with disabilities. According to this account, 156 of the 282 people in the diversion reported sleeping in a tent.

The presentation also noted that the main reason people arrested for possession were not eligible for disbarment was because they were charged with failure to appear in court. According to this account, trespassing is the most common concurrent crime next to possession.